Christian Unschooling: Are Desires Important?
Do you have great desires? Are there things you want to do with your life? Maybe you know in a vague kind of way that you need to do something, but you don’t know what you should do. Or perhaps…
A Beginning of the Year Unschooling Challenge
Hey friends, here’s a challenge that’s from my upcoming new book, The Unschool Challenge! Maybe doing the challenge is a good way to begin a new year of learning adventures! We all know learning doesn’t just happen during the official…
Listening
Gemma-Rose’s turn to read. My turn to listen. When I was an eleven-year-old student, our teacher got out her tape recorder and played us a current affairs radio program. It was a hot summer’s afternoon, late in the day, and I…
An Interview with a Teenage Radical Unschooler
Last week, in episode 109 of my unschooling podcast, I was chatting about radical unschooling. This week, I’m interviewing Sophie (16) who is a radical unschooler. If you’re unsure about this way of life, perhaps our conversation will reassure you that…
Doing What Kids Ought to Do
Years ago, we lived in a back-to-front cottage. The back door faced the long driveway that led to the road, and the front one turned towards an endless paddock of chewing-the-cud cows. Around the cottage was what the real estate…
Are You an Unschooling Troublemaker Like Me?
ome years ago, the education laws in Australia changed. The minimum school leaving age was raised from 15 to 17 to ensure that every child receives a better education. Well, that was the official reason for the change, but I suspect money was at the heart of the decision. But that’s another story! Today, I want to tell you about how I was labelled a troublemaker because of the changes. All homeschoolers in our state were invited to meet with…
Letting Go of Our Own Ideas About Our Kids’ Education
Many years ago, I set out on a big search for the perfect method of homeschooling. I was looking for something that would ensure that my kids learnt all the essentials of a good education. (These basics varied depending on what books I was reading.) The perfect method also had to suit me. What did I want to do each day as far as homeschooling went? What did I enjoy learning about that I wanted to pass on to my…
How Ticking Off Boxes Can Be a Waste of Time
Do you ever tick off boxes? When we have a lot of things to do, making a list, and then ticking off the items as we complete them, can be very helpful. It feels satisfying to see the ticks appearing, doesn’t it? Yes, ticking off boxes is good. Well, it usually is. It just depends on what’s on our lists. Years ago, I used to have long lists of things I wanted my kids to do: complete maths problems, memorise…
When We Reach Crisis Point
The other day, I heard some words to this effect: Only when the pain that it takes to remain the same outweighs the pain that it takes to change are we finally willing to make some decisions and act. We might be aware that things aren’t right. We know we should make some changes, but we put off doing this. Maybe we’re hoping things will get better. We’ll cope. We don’t want to give in. Perhaps change will involve facing…
Focusing on the Smaller But More Important Things in Life
In my last post I said: What am I going to do next? What are my plans? What’s ahead for me? Someone at the Canberra unschooling meeting wanted to know what I’d like to do now that I’ve published my unschooling books. Will I write more books? Perhaps I’ll take up a new challenge? I now know the answer: I’m going to finish editing my third children’s novel, The Angels of Convict Way. You might have heard me talking about…
How Both Unschooling Parents and Kids Can Do Amazing Things
What am I going to do next? What are my plans? What’s ahead for me? Someone at the Canberra unschooling meeting wanted to know what I’d like to do now that I’ve published my unschooling books. Will I write more books? Perhaps I’ll take up a new challenge? I was happily surprised by the questions. Normally, when I get together with other parents, the conversation revolves solely around our children. But it shouldn’t. Parents’ hopes and dreams and interests are…
Unschool Writing: What About Grammar and Punctuation?
How do unschoolers learn to write? This was one of the questions we were asked when we spoke at the recent Canberra unschooling talk. First, I think kids need something to say before they want to write. Lots of different things inspire us to write. Here are just a few: books, movies, games, events, and lively discussions that lead to thoughts and opinions. When my kids were little, they acted out what they wanted to say while they played. They also…
How Unschooling Is More Than Educating for a Secure Job
What do we want for our kids? A good education? If so, what does that look like? Do we want our kids to get good grades that will allow them to get into university? Would we like them to study degrees that will lead to high-status careers? Do we hope they’ll get well paying secure jobs that will set them up for life? Or isn’t that enough? Because even though feeling secure about money is good, that doesn’t necessarily lead to…
Fan Mail and Lots of Unschooling Thoughts
This morning I felt very discouraged. Perhaps it was the result of being overtired. I don’t know. It’s strange how grey the world looks…
Parenting Without Fear
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…
Changes
This week, in episode 106 of my podcast, I’m talking about changes both in my online and offline lives. I’m sharing: Some further thoughts…
Unschooling, Attachment, and the Art of Letting Go: Building Trust Instead of Rules
We don’t make rules in our family, so how do my children know what is right and what is wrong, if they aren’t guided by clearly stated limits? Do I believe my own quiet example of appropriate behaviour is all that is needed in order to influence my children? Perhaps I stand back, hands-off, and let my children behave as…
The Math Myth: How Do Unschooled Kids Learn Math?
There are many unschool maths questions. Here are just a few of them: Can kids really learn maths without formal instruction? What does unschooling maths look like? Can we strew unschool maths? Is it possible for registered homeschoolers to unschool maths? How can we provide evidence kids are learning maths when we don’t have formal records like workbooks and test…
Unschooling: Trust, Autonomy, and The Realities of Learning
The Ladies are Fixing the World again! Cecilie, Sandra and I are discussing the words ‘self-regulation’ and ‘limits’. When we say, “I’ve let go of control, and now I’m waiting for my child to learn how to regulate his time playing video games (for example),” do we have expectations about what that regulation should look like? Do we want…
Could Ebooks Save My Unschool Blog?
The other day, I logged into my blog hosting account to find out when my next payment is due and how much it will be. When I saw the bill due later this year, I gulped and said to my husband, “Do we want to spend so much money on a site that’s often slow or offline because of a…
Sharing the Catholic Faith With Our Kids
Maybe you’re thinking about unschooling. Letting children follow their own interests, and trusting they will learn all they need to know sounds great. But stop! Wait! What about religion? This is important. You think: “Can I just stand back and hope my children will want to learn about their faith? Doesn’t that sound a bit risky? What if they don’t…